Improvement in tin cans



E. P. FOLLETT., Tin 0am.

' No. 219,083. Patented Sept. 2,1879.

VV/TNESSES. r /NVENTOR.

W W WV 'M 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD P. FOLLETT, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO VAN ZANDT & BIXB Y, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TIN CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 219,083, dated September 2, 1879; application filed December 2, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. FOLLETT, of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hermetically- Sealed Cans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tin cans which can be opened without a knife; and consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter particularly set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents my improved can in perspective. Fig. 2 represents the same inverted. Fig. 3 represents a transverse vertical section through the can standing on one of its edges, and Fig. 4 represents the said can with the lap and part of the body torn open. p

A is the head, and B the body, of the can.

The oxidizable edge of the orifice O is turned out, so that when the cap is put on the edge it will be covered and prevented from rusting. At the same time space is left between the cap P and the head A for receiving solder for securing the parts.

By means of the channel 0 on the border of the head A the oxidizable edge is turned out at right angles to the head and brought even with the edge of the body B, and the plane of the head also; but, if desired, by moving the channel more or less farther back from the edge, thereby leaving a wider margin to be turned out, the plane may be depressed below the corners of the can.

L is a diamond-shaped or tapered lap of the body B, the dotted lines showing the under part, which is soldered to the outside part of the body.

The loop he formed from an extension of p the lap L by doubling the extension over on itself. The ring 4' is rigidly soldered in and I with the loop I, so as to prevent the ring from the can for transportation, the ring 1" is sunk to come level with the plane of the body B.

It is evident that the lap L may he applied to the head A or any part of the cans surface,

as seen at Fig. 2.

All parts of the can, including the orifice 0, channel a, and lap L, are cut out with a die, and the cavity 1? sunk at the point for receiving the ring r. Then the loop 1 at the end of the outside part of the lap L is formed, and the ring rinserted therein. The ring 1' and loop I are then rigidly soldered together on the back side of lap L. Then the inside of the overlapped end and the outside of the underlapped end of the lap L, out to the ring r and cavity t, are soldered together by applying solder on the inside of the body in a manner to bring the said ring at the right place for resting in the cavity 23. The heads A are then adjusted so as to bring their turned-out edges even with the edges of the body B. Then each head is dipped in acid, then in a solderbath, which operation solders the heads to the body and completes the can.

To open the can, as the face portion of the lap L is brought nearly to a point at the loop 1, and it being soldered on the inside,'by inserting the finger-nail under the ring '1, as it is rigidly soldered in the loop, the ring, acting as a lever, is raised out of the cavity, and the soldersecuring the lap together is easily first brokenat the edge of the cavity t, back of the loop l, after which the whole lap is easily torn apart, and the body, if desired, torn from the heads without cutting, leaving them uninjured and in a condition to be again used.

The advantages of the invention are the following: A can is furnished which may be opened Without cutting, and quicker and easier than by doing so. At the same time rust in the can is avoided; and while the body may be torn entirely off by hand, the heads are in a condition to be used again.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a sealed metal can, the body B, having the lap L, provided with the ring r, rigidly soldered in the loop Z, and cavity t, receiving the ring within the surface of the can, by

which an even surface is preserved, and the In testimony whereof I have hereto subsolder securing the lap is first broken at the scribed my name this 20th day of November, edge of the cavity in the act of raising the 1878. ring, as described.

2. In a metal can, the heads A, having the EDWARD P. FOLLETT. channel 0, by which their edges are turned outward to come even with the edges of the Witnesses: body, in combination with the body B, pro- B. EPARSONS, Vided with the lap L cavity t, ring r, and. loop A. I. BIXBY. l, for the purposes essentially as set forth. 

